See also

Whereas 2011 saw memes enter the mainstream and disseminate and popularise the news of important events, 2012 saw them revert to form: cheap laughs, silly songs and hate. 2012 also marked the explosion in popularity of many memes which had already been bubbling away for, in some cases, several years.

Australia saw a few global hits with top honours going to Gotye. Elsewhere, what the Olympics failed to deliver, the US Election made up for in spades.

As with last year, if you've no idea what a meme is, the best way to find out is to follow this list. Then you'll understand. For those who already know, there's our top 10 listed at the bottom for you to complain about.

As before, and because some people get upset about this sort of thing, what follows are key examples each meme. In some cases that might be the viral video which inspired it. Here we go...

Remixes, covers and parodies of the song flourished so much that Gotye himself remixed them.

Indeed, Gotye looked all set to be the online musical hit of the year.

Another musical hit wasn't really a meme, but it was one of the greatest things to appear on the internet all year... much to the chagrin of countless boyfriends who were forced to watch it countless times.

Also, the force was strong with this one. Diablo 3 launched to massive hype and introduced Error 37 to the world. Mitt Romney learned a valuable lesson about the power of modern media and the internet (or not) when his iPhone app misspelled, "America."

June

The month started with tragedy as Mr Trolololol, singer of the happiest song in the world, passed away.

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How Does this Site Work?

This site is where you will find ABC stories, interviews and videos on the subject of Technology and Games. As you browse through the site, the links you follow will take you to stories as they appeared in their original context, whether from ABC News, a TV program or a radio interview. Please enjoy.